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Hoan Huynh was going door-to-door to inform businesses about increased immigration enforcement on Chicago’s North Side when democratic State legislators received a proactive tip of nearby federal agents.
He followed the agents’ vehicles and when he was stopped, he sounded his horn to warn others. He said masked federal officers pointed guns at him and a staffer, attempted to break his car window and took photographs of their faces before issuing a warning.
“We were non-violent,” Huynh said of Tuesday’s incident, part of which was captured on video. “We identified myself as an elected official and my hands were visible.”
As the Trump administration steps up an immigration crackdown in the nation’s third-largest city and its suburbs, elected officials in the Democratic stronghold have increasingly been caught in tense encounters with federal agents. members of chicago City councilors and their staff, state legislators and congressional candidates have reported being threatened, handcuffed and detained in recent days.
Tense political environment comes as President donald trump The government has vowed to expand military deployment and prisons. JB Pritzker And Mayor Brandon Johnson on immigration policies, which Republicans claim protect criminals. But Illinois Democrats view these actions as scare tactics and calculated expediency. The clashes, amid continued arrests of immigrants and protesters, have emerged as a top campaign issue in Illinois’ March primaries, where an unusually large number of congressional seats are up for grabs.
Alderman Mike Rodriguez, whose ward includes heavily immigrant and Latino neighborhoods, said Thursday, “This is an escalation of interests to create fear and intimidation in my community and throughout Chicago.”
A day earlier, at least eight people, including four US citizens, were detained during an enforcement operation in the city’s Mexican enclave Little Village and the nearby suburb of Cicero, he said.
This also included two of his American civilian staff members who were detained for more than seven hours. He said he did nothing wrong but did not provide precise details of his involvement.
“Trump sent his goons into my neighborhood to intimidate, and my staff was detained while trying to help people move out,” she said.
While the operation is focused on Latino neighborhoods and enclaves of the city, federal agents have been seen throughout the city of 2.7 million and many of its suburbs. News of pedestrian and traffic stops outside schools, hardware stores, courthouses and O’Hare International Airport parking lots has sparked a wave of frustration and anger among the city’s activist immigrant rights network and residents who chase vehicles, blow warning whistles and take videos.
Department of Homeland Security It has defended its operations, including the detention of American citizens, saying they are being detained temporarily for safety. The agency, which did not respond to questions about Rodriguez’s staffing, accused Huynh of “stalking” agents.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said agents would have to assess whether the legislator is a threat.
“This behavior is unbecoming of a public servant and is another example of sanctuary politicians putting our officers at risk,” he said in a statement.
Also this week, City Council Member Jesse Fuentes filed a federal damages claim seeking $100,000 in damages after agents arrested and handcuffed him at a hospital earlier this month. She said she was investigating a man who was injured while being chased by immigration agents and asked for a judicial warrant signed on that person’s behalf. He was handcuffed and allowed out of the hospital. He was not charged.
Fuentes’ attorney Jan Sussler said, “This is truly a horrific time when unidentified federal agents shove, grab, handcuff and detain an elected official while performing his duties.”
Huynh, who was elected to the Illinois House in 2022, is also running for Congress to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, one of four open House seats in the safely Democratic field. Other candidates in the crowded primary have also publicized their protests outside a federal immigration processing center in suburban Chicago, including Kat Abughazaleh, who was pinned to the ground by federal agents after protesting.
For Huynh, who came to the United States from Vietnam in the 1990s and was granted political asylum, the feeling is all too familiar.
He said, “My family came as refugees from the Vietnam War, where people were being picked up all the time by the secret police. We believed in the American ideal of due process.” “It’s very worrying that we have this in this country right now and what’s very disturbing is that we’re living under this authoritarian regime.”